Beginning in the 1940s after World War II, we were paranoid about our survival as the Great United States as we knew it then and as we still know it. The fear of the communist ideology seeping slowly into the thinking of all our citizens and eventually dominating our way of life pervaded throughout the nation.

Given the name “Second Red Scare”, the concern lasted ten years, beginning in 1947. (The First Red Scare occurred during the period 1917-1920).

During the late 1940s and much of the 1950s many things occurred that, perhaps other than history buffs, few people born during and after the 1960s even know about or remember from history classes.

• Elizabeth Bentley revealed the names of 80 Americans engaged in espionage for the Soviet Union. She was once an American spy working for the Soviet Union before switching sides. Read

• Whittaker Chambers, named about a dozen members of the communist underground working in the Franklin Roosevelt administration. He was a communist before renouncing his association and became an outspoken opponent of communism. Read

• The House Committee on Un-American Activities, known as HUAC and sometimes HCUA, looking in alleged communist activity in the motion picture industry published what is known as the “Hollywood Ten.” The ten were later blacklisted by the movie industry for refusing complete cooperation during the HUAC hearings. Eventually, more than 300 artists were boycotted by the studios. Read

• Even the sports business was affected. The Cincinnati Reds baseball team changed its name for a five-year period to the Cincinnati Redlegs to discourage citizens from associating the franchise with communism.

The fear of spreading communism throughout the United States was a big concern for a country coming out of World War II. The fear subsided over time after one of the loudest voices was shown to be a liar who could not be trusted. Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Wisconsin republican, made accusation after accusation that certain employees, 205 in total, were communists working in the State Department. He could not, however, prove their communist affiliations and eventually fell out of favor. Read

From that point forward, the public showed less and less concern about the United States evolving into a communist state.

Third Red Scare
The Third Red Scare hasn’t popped up yet. But, it should. I have believed since Mr. Obama became our president, we better be careful. I think many people with the time and interest to follow the news believe Mr. Obama wants to take us to socialism. If he succeeds, communism could easily be our final stopping point.

Communism! The government owning everything. No private property. Deplorable!

Mr. Obama is trying to take us to socialism but his efforts are, I think, losing steam because of concerned centrists, right-wingers and independent voters. The tea parties and health care town halls are quite convincing.

Still, Mr. Obama promised to transform the country although few of us really knew what he meant until he got to work even though he was clear in his campaign promises.

We better be careful now that he has made it clear that his non-spoken motto is “What’s yours is ours.” Otherwise, communism isn’t far away.

Mr. Obama’s supporters
We should put these groups of people on our suspect list for close following:

• CZARs, whether confirmed or not confirmed by the senate. Van Jones, the communist, resigned his position but is probably buzzing around behind the scenes. Mark Lloyd, has stated his opinion that the government should take the first amendment away from broadcasters and the print media. John Holdren is believed by many to support sterilization to control the population. These are just three of Mr. Obama’s selections of about 30 that need close watching.

• Entertainers are often vocal with their leftist beliefs, some with far left beliefs and do not seem to look kindly at capitalism even though their wealth comes from capitalistic practices. There are a few exceptions such as Jon Voight who is quite vocal in his support of capitalism.

• The Ward Churchill and Bill Ayers academia crowd. Their history shows they are not un-American but anti-American. Sufficient evidence exists to convince one that Mr. Ayers is an Obama friend even though each denies such a relationship.

With this president, we can’t be too careful.